Silver Lining
by Bunny7433
Summary: "How did it change so fast?" she asked out loud as she stared at her reflection. Part of her waited and expected an answer, but never received one. "Oh Arnold, what happened to that wonderful spirit of yours?"
1. Chapter 1 Crashed

**My first fanfic! I pray that it doesn't disappoint some of the more established HA! Fanfic authors, and will leave a good impression on my writing abilities. I would like to thank Azure129 for your imput on the direction of my fanfic. Also, for ck3712 for your valuable beta reading and suggestions for story name and Chapter 1 title. This story would have stunk without you two! *hugs* THANKS!**

**DISCLAIMER: I wish I owned HA! and it's characters but unfortunately I don't. If I win the lottery though, that may change!**

**Chapter 1: Crashed**

The snow was falling throughout the neighborhood streets of Hillwood. A thick layer covered the streets and sidewalks. The sun faded an hour ago and the street lamps flickered casting eerie shadows. Helga pulled her pink jacket tighter around her as the chilly wind picked up as if hurrying her home. "Arnold will be waiting for his medication", she muttered to herself, however her pace slowed down in her quest. It was a long walk from the drugstore, but it was a familiar one for Helga. This inevitable walk occurs on a biweekly basis as one of her many errands for her dear football head.

Helga decided to cut through City Park and walk to the small bridge over the water. As soon as she looked over the side of the bridge she stared down at her reflection in the water. She saw the tears rolling down her face and hit the water. The face she saw, she barely recognized. Age lines and dark circles under her eyes are all she sees. _"I really should hurry"_, thought Helga, _"but even I need a break once in a while….."_

"How did it change so fast?" she asked out loud as she stared at her reflection. Part of her waited and expected an answer, but never received one. "Crimmney! I'm really starting to lose it! I'm a freaking basket case! I don't know how much more stress I can handle. I love Arnold, but it's just so hard to love him these days." She sighed, as she tightly clutched the bag full of prescriptions.

"Oh Arnold, what happened to that wonderful spirit of yours?"

Flashback to a month earlier:

"Move it Football Head or we are going to be late meeting Pheobe and Gerald!" Helga shouted up the stairs. "Coming!" Arnold shouted back from their upstairs bedroom. Helga hurriedly grabbed her purse, cell phone, and car keys. The footsteps of Arnold can be heard as he hurries down. "Geez, Arnoldo! I thought women were suppose to take forever in getting dressed!" with a smirk on her face. "Sorry" muttered Arnold as a slight hue of crimson climbed his face. He was wearing black slacks with a dark green button down dress shirt. The shirt really brought out his eyes and the slight blonde fuzz on his chin. _"He does clean up well"_ thought Helga as she checked him. _"One of the many reasons I married the man." SWOON._

"Well, we sure are cutting it close bucko. They better not have started eating without us! I'm STARVING!" Helga said while walking out the front door of their house. She clicked open the car and hopped in the driver side as Arnold grudgingly took the passenger seat as usual. _"When will Helga let me drive her new car?"_ thought Arnold. Helga quickly got the car on the road and raced to Chez Pariz where Pheobe and Gerald were waiting.

"I can't wait to see Gerald and Pheobe" Arnold said happily while flipping the radio to some Jazz music. He can never stay mad at Helga, especially when she's dressed up for a nice evening out. Definitely not in that tight little black dress that showed off all her curves with her long blonde hair cascading off her shoulders. Shaking his head to clear his thoughts of Helga, "I can't believe we are celebrating their one year wedding anniversary already. It feels like it was just yesterday they were saying their vows."

"Well, Football head, if you can't believe that, how about the fact we will be married for 3 years next month? You better not forget OUR anniversary and don't be cheap for our night out or you will have to answer to Ol' Betsey!" as Helga shook her fist at Arnold to prove her point. "Whatever you say Helga" Arnold grinned. _"She has no idea what's in store for her this year!"_ Arnold thought happily to himself.

As she sped down the road, Helga shot a glance over at Arnold, and smiled lovingly at her husband. She suddenly saw a frightened look on Arnolds face and quickly looked back at the road. She saw just in time to see a flash of car before she could slam on the brakes.

SCREEEEEEECH

CRASH

Helga and Arnold lay unconscious inside their crumpled car as people shouted outside.

"What happened?"

"There was a car crash!"

"Are there any survivors?"

"Somebody call 911!"

The two cars were smoking and were deadly still as sirens could be heard in the distance.

The next day—

Helga woke up with a pounding headache. "Ugh….What happened?" she mumbled while grabbing at her head. She felt something attached to the back of her hand pulling at it slightly as she reached the spot on her head causing pain. A voice answered her. "You are in Hillwood General Hospital Mrs. Shortman. Please be careful of the IV attached to you."

With much effort Helga slowly opened her eyes. She squinted against the bright fluorescent lights of the room. She saw a female nurse about 50 years old with graying hair standing over her checking her pulse. "I'm WHERE?" Helga said while trying to sit up wincing in pain. Everything hurt! Her eyes widened as she looked around the room realizing her husband isn't anywhere to be seen.

"Where's Arnold? Is he okay? What happened?" shouted Helga as she clutched on to her bed sheets.

"Calm down Mrs. Shortman. You were in a severe car accident and have multiple cuts, bruises, and a small hairline fracture in your collarbone. You also have a slight head injury, so please refrain from any sudden motion." replied the nurse as she gently placed Helga back against her bed. "Unfortunately, I do not know a lot about Mr. Shortman. All I do know is that your husband is alive but he had to have emergency surgery due to the car accident. I will call Dr. Fong Yee to come in as soon as possible to let you know how he is."

The nurse left to retrieve the doctor as Helga wept in the hospital room. Millions of thoughts ran through her mind as she tried to remember what happened, and what's wrong with Arnold.

As the tears ran down Helga's cheeks she softly cried "Arnold…my love….emergency surgery….oh no…."

**Author's Note: **

**I already started Chapter 2, so I'm hoping that will be up in another week. I know Chapter 1 ends in a cliffhanger, but you will find out what is wrong with Arnold in the next chapter. PROMISE! I hope you all enjoyed the story! PLEASE REVIEW!**


	2. Chapter 2 Awake

**Hey all! Here is chapter two a wee bit late – my kid was sick. *frowns* I do apologize but now I have learned how to pace myself better. Anyway, thanks again to ****ck3712**** for the beta reading and your suggestions! Also, thanks to Azure 129 and reviewers for your words of encouragement! You all are awesome! And an extra thank you to my fiancé! He told me he was proud of me when he read my story and reviews. I can't believe over 100 people have read my first chapter! I feel warm and fuzzy!**

**Disclaimer: Owning HA! is a dream of mine and many fans, but for now, it is owned by Craig Bartlett. *sigh***

**Chapter 2: Awake**

It felt like hours, but within a few minutes the doctor came to Helga's room.

The doctor seemed to be around the same age as the nurse. He grabbed the clipboard off Helga's bed reading the latest check by the nurse on her vitals. "Hello, Mrs. Shortman, I'm Dr. Fong Yee. I'm glad to see you are awake."

He looked up at Helga and continued, "You came to the hospital shortly after a car crash. You and your husband are very lucky to be alive. You were hit by a drunk driver and the other driver did not survive. You have suffered a minor concussion and have been unconscious for the past 15 hours. We would like to monitor you for another 24 hours before we release you."

Helga nodded slowly taking in the information. "A..And Arnold? How is he?" she asked quietly.

The doctor paused for a second and sighed. "I'm very sorry Mrs. Shortman. Your husband, unfortunately, did incur more serious injuries since his airbag seemed to have malfunctioned. Mr. Shortman has a shattered vertebrate in his spine. It is a burst fracture of the third vertebrae, known as L3, in his lumbar spine and during surgery we found and removed a fingernail-sized bone fragment had gone into the spinal cord, slightly crushing it. Since there was some damage to his spinal cord, most likely he will not be able to walk again. However, I have seen cases where patients have regained some mobility after extensive physical therapy for a year or so."

Dr. Fong Yee glanced at the wall clock as he placed the clipboard back on the side of Helga's bed, "Your husband got out of surgery an hour ago and if you would like to see him, I can have a nurse bring you over to his post-op room by wheelchair. He should be waking up soon; however, he is heavily medicated and may not be very responsive to you at the moment." In shock, Helga barely nodded as he finished his statement.

As if on cue, the same nurse from before came into the room pushing a wheelchair. After a few minutes of struggling and some help from the nurse, Helga was sitting in the wheelchair with her IV attached. They made their way to the post op section of the hospital in silence. When Helga saw the "Post Op" sign hanging around the corner, the shock finally wore off. Tears streamed down as she mentally prepared herself to see Arnold. When they finally got to his room, the nurse stopped the wheelchair and looked at Helga with concern. "Alright Mrs. Shortman, this is your husband's room. Do you need a minute before I bring you in?"

"No, an extra minute wouldn't change how I feel right now. I…just need to see him" replied Helga wiping away her tears. The nurse nodded and proceeded to bring her in.

The room was dimly lit as Helga could make out Arnold's figure lying on the hospital bed sleeping. Helga could hear the heart monitor beeping away quietly as the nurse pushed the wheelchair beside Arnold's bed. After placing the brakes on the wheelchair, the nurse nodded at Helga and quietly stepped out of the room.

Helga grabbed Arnold's hand, intertwining her fingers with his limp ones. Her eyes slowly assessed Arnold's physical condition. He had his chest wrapped up in bandages, along with tubes poking out from the side of his stomach for bodily waste. Bandages were spread about on his arms, legs, and head. Helga tightened her grip, mashed her eyes closed, and breathed in deep trying to calm herself down.

"Ughhhhh" moaned Arnold. Helga immediately opened her eyes and leaned forward to his face. "Arnold? Are you awake?" she asked gently. His eyes opened slightly and seemed to struggle to stay open. She stroked Arnold's hair as he turned his head slightly towards her. "It hurts" he said with a crack in his voice. "I know" replied Helga as she pressed his hand to her chest. "I'm here okay? And I'm going to take care of you, through sickness and in health, right football head?"

Arnold managed a slight smile, "Whatever you say Helga." Arnold clutched her hand tighter as he became more aware of the pain. The pain killers from the surgery had started to wear off. "Arnold, what's wrong?" Helga asked in alarm. Arnold's chest tightened as he fought back tears from the pain. "It hurts! Shit! It hurts!" he shouted in agony.

"NURSE!" screamed Helga. The nurse came running in upon hearing all the screaming. "What's wrong Mr. Shortman?"

"He's in pain!" shouted Helga. "DO SOMETHING!"

"Let me get the head nurse! It looks like he needs a nerve block!" replied the nurse as she ran back out. Meanwhile Arnold keeps crying and screaming from the pain. Helga was struggling to keep it together, but forced herself for Arnold's sake. "It's okay Arnold. They are going to give you something for the pain soon. Be strong okay?" as she winced in pain from his firm hold on her hand.

A minute later the head nurse came rushing in with a needle. "Okay, Mr. Shortman. We are going to roll you to your side and inject this nerve block in your back. It will temporarily numb the nerve so that it won't feel any more pain. Do I have your consent?" asked the head nurse.

"Yes!" Arnold cried out. The two nurses immediately rolled Arnold to his side and opened his gown. Carefully removing some of his bandages, the head nurse slid the needle in his spine. "Just give it a minute, and the nerve block will take effect." After the bandages were replaced, and Arnold was rolled back, that he finally stop crying. Exhausted, he closed his eyes and fell asleep. "He might need another nerve block when this one wears off" the nurse stated to Helga. "It's not uncommon for patients to be in this much pain especially after enduring such a difficult surgery."

Helga nodded while staring at Arnold not noticing the tears running down her face. Her hand still holding on to his hand, and her fingers intertwined with his limp ones.

**Author's Note: Ahhh nerve blocks. Those do exist! I had to have one when I woke up from my knee surgery last year. Not fun! **

**Anyway, I know a lot of fans will be upset now finding out at how severely I injured Arnold. Please don't riot in front of my house. I hope you all can forgive me as the story goes on! **

**PLEASE REVIEW! Thanks for reading!**


	3. Chapter 3 Reality

**I'm alive! I've had quite a few people PM me asking me to continue this story. I've been meaning to but I've had some medical issues myself (read Sept 2012 update on my profile). This story is always on my mind though, so I'm pushing myself to keep it going. Honestly, I'm not QUITE sure where I'm going with the story. LOL I'm totally relying on my gut and internal emotions so I hope it does go somewhere! XD I do know that this is going to be a loooong and emotional story, so I'm going to work on another story as well on the side. **

**Thanks to Angelblood666 for beta reading this! You are awesome! XD**

**This is a short chapter by the way. Sorry all! I wanted it to stop at a certain point. **

**Also, I had a good friend of mine mentioned in this chapter. Hehehe.**

**Disclaimer: We all know I don't own HA! so on with the story.**

**Ch 3 Reality**

Suddenly, a hard rock song played from her coat pocket pulling away from her thoughts over that day. (Helga changed around her ringtones depending on her mood and ever since the hospital discharged Arnold, her ringtone was "Falling Away From Me" by Korn. It seemed fitting these days...)

Helga quickly stopped leaning against the bridge railing and started digging in her pocket for her cell. Not being able to grab it with her free hand, she groaned in frustration and immediately bit at her fingers to pull off her thick gloves in order to grab her phone.

"Hewwo?" Helga asked in a frustrated and muffled tone. "Stupid glove!" she muttered after she managed to grab the glove with the same hand holding Arnold's medicine.

"Hey...How are you holding out?" asked a female voice.

"Oh...hey Mia...I'm okay...I guess..." Helga replied with a sigh while leaning back over the bridge.

"Hmmm...doesn't really sound like it," Mia responded with a sigh of her own. "I can only imagine what you and Arnold are going through. You KNOW you can talk to me if you need to, right? I know I'm your boss and all, but I'm also your friend."

A faint smile crossed Helga's face as she replied, "Yeah. I know, and I appreciate it..." The smile faded as Helga continued, "It's just been hard dealing with everything since...the accident. " Helga sighed again.

The two women remained silent for a minute not knowing what to say.

"Well, I called with some news...good news actually. I talked to the publishers about you needing to extend your deadline. They weren't really happy about it, but let's face it; they can't lose you. Everyone knows this will end up being your third book on the Best Seller's List. Anyway, the extension is approved for an extra year because of your current situation," Mia said.

Helga sighed in relief, "What would I do without you Mia? I have been worried about finishing this book, but with everything going on..."

"That's what I'm here for! Just keep me posted on things. Arnold is a great guy,and I hope he gets through this. If you need anything, I'm just a phone call away. Take care of yourself too, okay?" concluded Mia.

"Got it Mia...and thanks," replied Helga.

She heard the click as Mia hung up and mindlessly stared at the screen of her cell. The time, 8:45pm, was staring back at her, mocking her on how late it was getting.

"Oh CRAP! I told Arnold I would be back home over twenty minutes ago! He's going to kill me!" thought Helga as she hurried along the bridge and headed back home. The snow was falling harder, and was quickly erasing the trail of footprints she left behind.

Helga finally reached their front door and was breathing quite heavily, her jagged breaths dispersing into the cold night air. She started frantically searching in her pockets for her house keys.

"Where are my damn keys?!" she practically yelled to herself. She started emptying her pockets in order to hunt down her elusive keys. In her hand appeared some loose change, a bent up stick of gum, a spare hair tie, and then...

"AHA! There you are!" she muttered once she got a hold of her keys.

Just as she was about to stick her key in, the door swung open. She froze in place as she was greeted with an angry face.

"WHERE THE HELL HAVE YOU BEEN?!"


End file.
